Nepal may never use four million COVID vaccine doses donated by China

Four million doses of Chinese-based Sinovac company’s Sinovac-CoronaVac Covid-19 vaccine may not be rolled out ever.

Nepal’s Ministry of Health and Population officials said that they have proposed to roll out the vaccine at a meeting of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee, four times but no decision was taken in this regard, The Kathmandu Post reported. As the uptake of booster shots in Nepal is dismal, the fate of the Sinovac-CoronaVac Covid-19 vaccine is also at risk.

China supplied four million doses of Sinovac-CoronaVac jabs in March under grant assistance. The government sent planes specifically to bring the vaccines from China.

The doses have a shelf life of two years, so the health authorities decided to use another vaccine with a shorter life, according to The Kathmandu Post.

The Kathmandu Post reported that the public health experts advised the authorities that it would be unwise to keep the vaccine doses manufactured months ago in stock for long, as Covid variants are mutating fast and the pharmaceutical companies have been working to redesign their vaccines.

Health Ministry officials claimed the Sinovac-CoronaVac vaccine has not got recommendations from credible organisations for use as a booster, reported The Kathmandu Post.